Former QB talks up Bo Nix’s great potential

¡Hola! Broncos Country!

I am writing this while flying back from Spain, so forgive my ignorance on recent Broncos news. I’ve been busy enjoying coffee and cycling in Girona, and it has been grand.

But now it’s back to reality and just a few more off-weeks before the real entertainment of football season can begin. And if the stars align and all the speculative praise for Bo Nix pans out, I predict a very fun season, regardless of wins.

So the recent praise from QB-journeyman Jordan Palmer (also tagged a QB Guru in some circles for his offseason work with standouts like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow in recent years) is yet another reason to get our hopes up. And I like hope.

As it turns out, Palmer has been hyping Nix for a few years.

“There are the two things I look at — confidence and maturity — before arm talent, before size, before any of that,” Palmer said in 2022. Nix is “more confident and mature than most of the guys I’ve ever been around.”

Palmer should know because he first worked with Nix when the Alabama-native was a high school senior playing under his father at Pinson High and attended an Elite 11 QB camp alongside Jayden Daniels.

“I’m an offensive coordinator on the team and he’s my quarterback,” Palmer recalled. “Him and Daniels are having a great week duking it out and I get a chance to see the way that Bo ticks.”

Palmer worked with Nix again while working with Jarrett Stidham at Auburn, who was a few years ahead of the high school standout.

“He came in with the weight of the world out there in Auburn,” Palmer said, noting that Nix’s father was a legendary high school coach in the state.

Palmer hinted that young Nix’s move out to the Pacific Northwest — “and if you live in Alabama, [Eugene, Oregon] is the middle of nowhere” — allowed him to “decompress and play free” as well as “learn from some really talented schemers and play designers.”

In fact, Palmer said he’s just sorry he was the only one not surprised by Nix’s ascension in college football, noting that he was asked about Nix’s potential at the height of his struggles at Auburn, which he claimed was “to be a top pick in the NFL draft.”

While commenters on the post with that quote called Palmer “hysterical,” the QB coach is the one laughing now.

“Sorry I was off by 11 picks,” he joked.

Athleticism and mentality top of the charts

But what continues to impress Palmer is that Nix has both the physical and mental traits to be successful at the pro level.

When Nix was at Auburn, his speed stood out to Palmer right away. A strength coach told him that Nix was one of the fastest guys on the team for a 10-yard split.

“I don’t care how many games Auburn did or didn’t win that year, that’s an SEC school and they’ve got speed; they’ve got dudes who can run super fast the first 10 yards. Nix was one of the fastest,” Palmer said. “And then you look at the size...he’s built the way you’d want to be built.”

But it’s also the other stuff — son of a coach, good student, solid mindset about priorities — that has helped Nix’s potential skyrocket.

“I don’t think this is the only way to become a successful quarterback but it’s certainly helped a lot of successful quarterbacks that I know,” Palmer said, adding that Nix’s background and faith have helped him handle the pressure and especially “the haters.”

“It’s not that he’s going to tune it out or use the haters as fuel,” Palmer added. “He doesn’t find his identity in the opinions from other people...so you kind of become impenetrable to the hatred and boy is that valuable when you’re a franchise quarterback.”

A look at the tape

Ultimately Palmer went to the film room to break down three things that Palmer believes makes Nix’s game stand out (two of which remind him of Drew Brees).

The first is his ability to push the ball down the field — something draftniks and scouts rarely highlighted about Nix’s game.

“Well Bo didn’t just complete 80 something percent of his passes at Oregon last year because he took the flat; he also pushed the ball down the field, which is why you’re up for the Heisman,” Palmer said, pointing to a play in the second quarter of the Fiesta Bowl.

With a favorite look on 1st-and-10, Nix has a one-on-one matchup and inside leverage as the defensive back is not paying attention.

“When you got a DB doing that you can assume is that he is going to end up on the inside shoulder of my wide receiver or he’s not because he’s going to get absolutely lost on the double move,” Palmer says, adding that although the wide receiver is wide open, Nix still has to deliver.

“I know he’s wide open, but look where this ball hits his receiver — right in front of him. When dudes play at schools and they’re throwing to open receivers, I don’t like knocking them if the ball hits them in the throat every single time,” Palmer adds. “You try and scheme that up every Sunday, and he can take advantage of it.”

A second key for a successful QB is playing from a collapsed pocket, something Brees was able to do time and again. Palmer pulled up another clip from mplay-action where Nix held off the safety for an extra tick, turned, pump faked and then stayed in position despite an edge rusher barrelling down on him.

“He’s got a free runner coming here, but he’s able to throw it, take the hit and this ball spins perfectly and is exactly where his guy can get it,” Palmer said, adding Brees was one of the best to do it and Nix “has a lot of those traits.”

On another play action clip, a five-man bull rush is coming at Nix and “he’s going to stand right here and feel this pressure and be able to find his boy on an over route,” Palmer says, pointing out that often a QB doesn’t have time to escape but has to be able to throw “mechanically, courageously and also just consistently knowing that I don’t have time to move or create space and I have to get this thing where I need to get it.”

Straying from the Brees similarities a bit, Palmer highlights Nix’s mobility, specifically pointing to the infamous TD pass against LSU, down 13 with five minutes left in the game on 4th-and-2.

“He rolls right. LSU has lots of good players, but he makes him miss, pump fake makes him miss, makes him miss again, makes him miss and then gets rid of this ball ... throwing to his boy in the end zone in stride,” Palmer says. “I mean, yeah he’s running for his life but by the way the ball is spinning perfectly, hits this guy in stride. Come on! I can go on and on.”

One of Palmer’s final points is that it’s possible to scheme mobility into the play design with Nix because he is so accurate because of the way he sets up for the pass.

“Quietly the Denver Broncos have just built one of the best young quarterback rooms in the league, paired with one of the best offensive mindes we’ve seen,” Palmer said. “So the ability to be accurate down the field, the ability to throw from a cramped space and the added layer of mobility and what that can do for a play caller are three reasons why I actually love the fit of Bo Nix wearing a Broncos uniform.”

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